The invention relates generally to the field of sealing and in particular to the discovery of a metal surface finish that is suitable for precision sealing applications.
Within numerous manufacturing industries, metal components such as those composed of aluminum can require various finishing processes. For example, in the semiconductor tooling industry, two of these finishing processes for aluminum tools include (1) xe2x80x9cjitterbuggingxe2x80x9d for applying a suitable cosmetic appearance to exposed aluminum surfaces, and (2) polishing for adequately smoothing a surface to provide it with sufficient sealing capability and to reduce its imperfections.
Jitterbugging a surface normally involves manually sanding the surface with vibratory sanding in conjunction with bonded abrasive grain media or fiber pads. This creates a desired dull xe2x80x9cmattexe2x80x9d finish. In the semiconductor tooling industry, this matte finish has generally become somewhat of an industry standard for exposed aluminum surfaces.
Unfortunately, because the surfaces are processed manually, the required quality of jitterbug finishing is difficult to define, document, or repeat. In addition, excessive human resources are required for jitterbugging the surface of a conventional tool.
Moreover, while the jitterbugged surfaces appear to be cosmetically uniform due to their diffusive appearance, as shown in FIG. 1, a typical surface without any additional polishing will include lengthy, continuous traces resulting from the use of abrasive materials. These lengthy traces (or scratches) tend to impair the surface""s sealing capability. Thus, polishing is applied to portions of surfaces that require sealing capability.
Unfortunately, polishing metal surfaces in order to improve their sealing capability also involves significant manual effort and resources. In addition, traditional polishing processes are not always effective for attaining necessary sealing capabilities. Moreover, some surfaces have complicated or intricate geometries that are not even amenable to conventional polishing.
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved scheme for acquiring metal surfaces that are suitable for sealing applications.
The present invention provides such an improved metallic surface for sealable mating to a seal device such as a gasket. In one embodiment, it provides a sealable apparatus that has a component and a seal device. The component has a seal contact area for receiving the seal device. The seal contact area comprises a metallic surface with randomly distributed micro-pits that are capable of sealably mating with the seal device when the seal contact area is operably mated to the seal device.
In another embodiment, it provides a sealable apparatus that includes a seal device, a first component, and a second component. The seal device has first and second sealing surface regions. The first component has a seal contact area for receiving the seal device at the first sealing surface region. Likewise, the second component has a seal contact area for receiving the seal device at the second sealing surface region. The second component""s seal contact area comprises a metallic surface with randomly distributed micro-pits thereby making it capable of sealably mating with the second sealing surface region. The first and second components seal to one another when the first and second contact areas are operably mated to the seal device at its first and second sealing surface regions.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter, which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.